This week it seems that a war of words has been going on back and forth between Jon Stewart and the host of Mad Money on CNBC – Jim Cramer.  It started with a few light jabs – Stewart poking at Cramer over financial advice in favor of an investment that went belly-up a week later, to which Cramer countered that Stewart was blurring the truth.  Then Stewart mockingly apologized for his representation and the put forth the truth in film (not much refuting words from the horse’s mouth).  And as Cramer escalated the affair, Stewart returned volley with his usual method of turning the attack on its head.

The culmination of this battle came Thursday on the Daily Show when Jim Cramer came on as a guest.  While Cramer was upbeat, cordial, and ready to defend himself as needed, Stewart was prepared to go for the kill.  In his words, he made clear that his beef was not specifically with Cramer, but based on the carnage it would surprise me if Cramer’s show isn’t offered up as a sacrificial lamb to get CNBC away from the guilt Stewart is attempting to fling their way.  While Stewart readily admits that he is not a journalist and doesn’t expect to be treated as an information source of integrity, his questions were concise and his concerns valid, and the respect that he commands (however unintentionally) may be enough, in my opinion, for some of his rhetoric to make waves in the world of finances (or at least the work of financial reporting).

At the heart of this episode were some important questions and concerns.  Should we continue blindly trusting the long-term investments we have long been told would serve us well when they are based on a very volatile backbone of trading and investing in a cutthroat market?  Shouldn’t the financial media be doing more to call out these back-door practices that may have been the true roots to our current financial crisis?  Certainly there will always be the Bernie Madoff’s of the , but when they are getting away with such shenanigans using tactics that are known and in some cases only mildly frowned upon, then someone is asleep at the wheel.